Chain
by TheLastofUs
Summary: "Look at me. I said, LOOK AT ME, BITCH! YOU CAN'T FIX THIS!"


Chained on His Loved Wrists

Castiel stood before a man in chains; chains that had no right to be on the wrists they were on, and eyes that had no right to be the window into the darkness that they were. He was warned before he entered that this wasn't really Dean. Of course it wasn't. Sam left him alone with the demon for the lone reason that Castiel did not want to leave. Sam had rattled out a list of warnings that now played through Castiel's head as the only reason he was not a few steps closer. The demon inside Dean was chained and held in the place where Crowley used to be. Castiel's eyes crawled over the chains in distaste.

The demon looked like Dean. Grinned like Dean. Blinked like Dean. Castiel's heart stilled in his chest as he glanced him over. The demon would tease and taunt, and through the smokey black film over its eyes, laugh at the expression on Castiel's face. That's why it wasn't Dean. It was not kind like Dean. Not Dean. Not Dean. And though Castiel chanted this, he found himself unbelieving to the words he tried to place in the front of his mind. The black in the demon's eyes vanished.

"Cas? What are you doing there- Why am I chained up?" voice suddenly lighter, brighter that finally matched right to body it spoke for.

"Dean?" Castiel felt hope spark and explode in him like a firework.

The chains rattled. "Cas, unlock me," and those green eyes fought along the sides of warriors as they slashed into Castiel's eyes.

Castiel's leg stuttered as he almost walked forward.

_Don't let him get to you. He's not Dean, remember?_ Castiel heard the ghost of Sam's words.

He planted his feet firmly on the ground again in some mechanical order. His shoulders squared and he looked past the demon (not Dean) and through the wall behind him. Maybe he should leave the room like Sam did.

"Cas, what's going on? I don't understand why I'm chained up."

Castiel's resolve broke as he could no longer stay silent. "You're possessed by a demon. I cannot let you free."

Dean laughed. "Man, I was just messing with you. Do I look possessed to you?"

_He'll try to deceive you, _flashed through Castiel's mind as sudden as lightning, and like lightning, vanished quickly.

"Let me go, Cas, you know me. I wouldn't hurt you or Sam or anyone else," Dean's words continued and each one flew and slashed at the wall that Castiel built for himself. He allowed his eyes to shift to the man restrained in the chair in front of him. It looked like Dean.

"It's me, man," Dean pleaded. "I need you."

Castiel's feet shuffled and moved slowly. His instincts kept yelling and screaming at him not to, to leave or just stay still, anything but unlock the demon (not Dean), but something stronger yanked at Castiel's heels and dragged him forward. He stopped a few feet from the chair.

"Maybe I should ask Sam first."

"Do you need his opinion for _everything_? Are you a child?" Dean said hastily.

"No," Castiel shot back.

"Then unchain me."

Castiel took another step forward and eyed the chains carefully. He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. Castiel realized this when his hands were fumbling with the lock of the cuffs. The green in Dean's eyes faded so suddenly it was as if they were never there, and perhaps they never were. And suddenly Castiel was on the ground, the shadow of a form lurking over him, free of chains and restraints. It sneered and laughed at Castiel as he struggled under the demon's tightening grip.

Hands tight on his coat and one moving to his hair, the demon held Castiel against the cold concrete of the dungeon floor. Castiel's lips cracked open to yell for Sam when the demon let go of his coat to clap a hand over his mouth. A smile curled into its lips so sickly and wrong to be on a face Castiel once knew. Castiel writhed under it in some attempt to get away.

The demon shushed him, "Shh," it whispered. "Don't wanna let Sammy know."

Castiel glared up at the demon as the hand in his hair tightened painful and tugged at his hair. He closed his eyes, tossing his head to the side as he kicked his legs. The demon hardly stifled a laugh and watched him with eyes crawling crudely over him.

"Come on, Angel. Smite me," the demon grinned. "Unless you can't because that's just another thing that you _can't_ do. "

Castiel bit the hand over his mouth and his eyes drove daggers through the demon, though it only seemed to enjoy Castiel's defiance.

"You're gonna have to take me out to dinner first," it teased. Castiel kicked again. "You're so weak," it said in mock-awe. "Big, bad angel can't handle a demon. You could never handle anything, always screwing everything up. You'll try to give a high-five and 'accidentally' punch a guy in the face."

The hand in Castiel's hair ripped out a clump and pulled back as Castiel felt it sting his cheek. Again, again, his skin bruised as he submitted to his fate. He would be a fool to believe a word the demon was saying, though he would be a bigger fool not to have already accepted it as true. He tasted blood in his mouth as a harmony to the repetitive beating of the demon's fist. It broke something inside him that had been shattered countless times before. Castiel managed to throw his eyes upward to meet Dean's, finding nothing but darkness.

The hand over his mouth moved to grab his throat.

"Dean," Castiel rasped without reason.

"Dean's not here," sang the song of the villain of a friend.

Fire burned down Castiel's throat, feeling the dulling pain of what would have been stronger had he been human. The shards of Grace inside him kept him in what could be seen as a plastic covering, but not enough to heal him. The metallic tang of blood fell from the corner of his lips and from his nose as his eyes shut tightly, feeling them sting.

"You gonna cry, Angel?"

Castiel forced the words away from him. His body ached all over, painted grotesquely with the crimson that crawled over him and clung to the knuckles of the demon. It was entertainment alone that kept the demon from running and instead breaking the skin and the heart of a would-be angel. Castiel felt unconsciousness knocking lightly at his door, but he had yet to succumb.

"Dean," Castiel cried out again in a pitiful attempt to reach through the smoke and the clouds of sin and to the righteous man he saved years ago. "We can fix this."

The demon shook his shoulders and Castiel's head banged against the concrete of the floor. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake. His eyes closed tighter, unwilling to open and look to the deteriorated face of one he used to love and hold dearly.

"Look at me," it hissed, shaking him harder. "I said, LOOK AT ME, BITCH!"

Castiel opened his eyes just barely, painfully, and he found his eyes tear-filled and desperate. Everything hurt. Everything was wrong. This sinful dragon could not wear the gown of a princess. The demon held his throat tighter and Castiel gasped for oxygen.

"YOU CAN'T FIX THIS!" the demon screamed at him and its nails dug into the skin of his neck.

Castiel's eyes were wide and terrified, and he tried to convince himself he didn't believe a word the demon was saying. The tears cleansed Castiel's cheek of blood and he tried once more to beg Dean to stop, to look at what he was doing, but his throat had closed and his voice abandoned him some time ago. Fear grabbed at his heart. Betrayal ripped its talons at his soul, but he had not even that. Empty handed, Castiel grabbed at Dean's shoulder where he once rescued him. He'd be damned if he didn't rescue him one more time. If he couldn't save Dean from this.

The door burst open, the demon's yelling alerting Sam. Suddenly everything was wet and Dean was screaming and falling over on his side, hands trying to get the offending holy water off of his skin. Castiel lay still on the floor, watching with emotionless eyes as Dean writhed in pain. Sam chained him up once more, the cuffs digging into Dean's wrists. Dean's wrists were too loved to be painted with cooling blood. Sam was talking again in a strong voice, trying to get Castiel's attention, but Castiel was gone.

"I told you not to listen to anything he said!" Castiel just barely heard Sam say. "It isn't Dean, it's a demon! The sooner we find out who it is the sooner we can find a way to exorcise it!"

"I AM DEAN WINCHESTER!" the demon yelled in an agonized voice. "I'm not possessed, you stupid fuck. Maybe I've always wanted to rip you apart piece by piece, feed you your intestines and make you watch. Maybe I've always wanted to see you BEG FOR DEATH BECAUSE IT WOULD BE KINDER! MAYBE I WANT TO BE THE ONE TO DO IT! _MAYBE I WANT TO SKIN_-"

Its words died away as Sam dragged Castiel out of the room. Castiel was quiet. Sam dragged a hand through his hair, asking Castiel to give him the key back. Castiel didn't argue. He stared longingly at the door, for beyond it was the shell of a man he used to know.

"All right, I found another exorcism that might..." Sam's words disappeared as Castiel's mind dissolved. His eyes didn't stray from the dungeon door. He barely registered Sam's voice as he asked if Castiel was okay. Castiel hardly remembered nodding. Sam told him to go get some rest; Castiel didn't argue that he wasn't tired because he was. He was tired of everything.

* * *

**A/N: Yeahhh... Kinda sorry for writing this XD It's based off a tumblr post that's been floating around by azeenfujoshi (I think?) **


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